£16.2m deals and dodged bullets: What happened to these Newcastle United summer transfer links

Jason Button and Steven Batey

Newcastle fans are crying out for heavy January spending to dig them out of the relegation mire - but did the club REALLY miss a trick in the summer?

Here we look at how seven of the players most strongly linked with a move to Tyneside during the last transfer window have performed since they

Despite buying seven players over the summer, Newcastle sit 19th after a poor start to the season. Here, we take a look at seven players the Magpies were linked with but couldn’t lure to the North East and how they are doing in their respective leagues.

Diego Reyes

Newcastle faced reputed competition from West Ham United for the Mexican centre-back this summer.

He entered the off-season as a free agent after running down his contract at Porto, and was snapped up by Turkish outfit Fenerbahce.

But Reyes has made just four league and three Europa League appearances so far this season as the Istanbul club sit in a disappointing 16th in the Turkish top tier.

VERDICT: Dodged bullet

Alassane Plea

Plea was in high demand over the summer following 16 league goals for Nice in France’s 2017-18 Ligue 1 season.

Borussia Monchengladbach forked out £16.2 million for the striker in July and since then he has taken the Bundesliga by storm.

Santos was close coming to the North East with Benitez keen to bring him to Tyneside in the final days of the transfer window and the player himself excited to leave Barcelona.

The Brazilian centre-back played for Nice on loan last season and was looking for a move away from the Nou Camp, but saw his hopes of a St James’ Park switch scuppered when he failed to qualify for a work permit.

Santos promptly moved to Sassuolo in Italy, and although the relative minnows lie ninth on the same points as the likes of Roma and Milan, they have the worst defensive record in the top half of the table.

VERDICT: Jury still out.

Daniel Sturridge

The England was set to move to Tyneside on loan in January before West Brom persuaded him to move to the Midlands instead.

Despite an injury-jinxed spell at The Hawthorns, United were linked with Sturridge again in the summer.

But while few Newcastle fans were too bothered when Sturridge stayed at Liverpool, he has forced his way back into favour under Jurgen Klopp, scoring four goals in 11 appearances - including one against PSG in the Champions League.

VERDICT: One that got away?

Danny Ings

Repeatedly linked with both a loan and permanent move to Newcastle, Sturridge’s Liverpool teammate Ings eventually joined boyhood club Southampton this summer.

And the former Burnley man started this season in fine form with three goals in his first five league games.

Ings hasn’t scored in his last four outings in a struggling Saints side, but the Magpies may regret missing out on a proven goalscorer.

VERDICT: One that got away?

Stanley N’Soki

Reports late in the summer saw Newcastle linked with PSG full-back N’Soki and talk of a £7 million deal close to being agreed.